Family Secrets (3/5)

“You’ve got one of the strongest marriages I know,” Phumla, her best friend, always said. “You’re truly an inspiration to us all.”

Masello shuddered at the thought of her friends and acquaintances finding out that her marriage had been a sham all along.

“Sandile’s too secretive – like your father,” her mom had said. “Such men may surprise you, and not necessarily in a good way.”

“Most men are secretive,” Masello had defended her man. “It’s normal.”

“He’s too good-looking,” her mom commented the first time Masello had introduced her to Sandile. “You’ll spend most of your time warding off other women.”

My mother was right after all, Masello thought sadly. Was history repeating itself? Masello’s father had left her mom on their twenty-first anniversary, when Masello had just turned 19. Was the old adage true? That you married a man who was just like your father? It was certainly true in her case.

Well, she would not turn into her mother, Masello vowed. When her mom had found out that her husband had cheated on her, she’d stuck by him, ignoring his roving eye. Masello was not prepared to face the same humiliation. Sandile had to go. Once a cheat always a cheat – that’s what her father had proved.